I Made It

For a while I wasn’t sure if I should write about this. I’m still not sure if it’s a good idea to share something this personal. Take a look at that picture, it is me playing golf with a friend in Tucson, AZ on Saturday July 23, 2016. I just striped a perfect drive right down the center of the fairway (all of 225 yards of it, I’m not very long). After this round of golf we’d meet up with our wives for lunch, we’d go see the new Star Wars movie, and we’d spend the rest of the day having a good time all around. Little did I know that my life is about to take a decidedly dark turn.

As the evening progressed, I gradually started feeling worse and worse. My heart started racing, and pain was starting to grow in my chest, neck and arms. On our way back to our hotel, I could not get my heart under control, and I started to panic. My wife decided that something was very wrong and she took me to the ER. To make a very long story short: I was having a heart attack.

If not for my wife, I would have gone back to my hotel room to lay down and wait for it to pass. I would have maybe fallen asleep and never woken up again. If not for her quick thinking, and the fact that we were 4 minutes away from the ER, I would not be writing this now. Over the next couple of days, I received a few stents to unblock my coronary arteries and I was sent home with a prescription for a bunch of medications.

Pretty much immediately after coming back home I went to a VERY dark place. I’ve turned into an extremely emotional person, and my mood can swing on a dime. Out of nowhere, with no discernible rhyme or reason, I’d just start sobbing uncontrollably. I’d talk to someone about what had happened, and I would have to excuse myself to not break down. I’ve discovered that I have wonderful friends who have supported me, which in itself is something that makes me emotional just thinking about it. Accepting that I have a heart disease is one of the most difficult things I’ve had to do in my life.

Now that I am writing about it, I feel like writing the whole story down, but I also realize that it’s probably too much for a single post. What I do want to put down here is that I was SO lucky to get away with this. It has turned my whole world upside down, and I’ve made some big changes in my life. If nothing else, it has helped me be in the present more than dwelling on the past or fretting about the future. I’ve learned not to give a f*ck, well maybe much less of one because I’m still the same person who cares too damn much about pretty much everything.

I’ve been thinking about writing posts about health and wellness, because many of us in our industry are on a decidedly unhealthy life style. I see so many people who I know could be next. I talk about the changes that I’ve made to anyone who wants to hear about it, and because it’s considered to be rude to confront someone’s eating habits directly to them (also a lesson learned this year) I feel like maybe sharing this here could be a good thing. Let me know in the comments what you think about it.

The oppressive terror that I’ve felt for the better part of this past year has subsided, and replaced with a more manageable sense of doom. The way this is going I may end up actually overcoming my fear altogether, which probably has its upside and also its downside. It would be nice not to be afraid, but if I’m not afraid I don’t know if I’ll be able to maintain my healthy lifestyle.

So, on the 1st year anniversary of my heart attack, I just want to say I am super happy that I made it! A whole year! On to the next half of my life!

Inspire 2017 DC Recap

This week I went to the Microsoft Inspire conference that was held in Washington DC. It was my first time at this particular conference, and I have to say it was a bit overwhelming. I am used to conferences that have maybe upward of 1,000 attendees, with a single Expo hall. This conference had well over 10,000 attendees, and the expo area seemed like it occupied an entire conference center.

Security was super tight, so it took for ever to get through, and we were waiting for long periods of time in the sweltering DC heat. We had accounted for an extra hour to find a good seat, and we were too late getting in, the keynote had already started.

Our main reason for being there with Cloud Ready Software was to attend the announcement for the ISV Development Center program, because we are one of the 7 initial companies that were selected by Microsoft to be part of this program.

Some things that I took away form the conference is that Satya Nadella is a really captivating speaker. It was a pleasure listening to his keynote and learn about the new initiatives out of Microsoft. Two of the most important ones that stood out for me is Microsoft 365 and the one commercial partner program.

Seeing Microsoft’s corporate leaders present their vision was inspiring to me. Connecting things together in ways that you just don’t think about is just mind boggling. There was a demo of a drone that does a physical inventory and picking. There was an example of how you can subscribe to a store’s discount program, and it can track your movements and know when you are near one of the stores, and invite you in for a good deal. The last one is kind of creepy, but at the same time it would be awfully convenient to walk past my local music store and get a reminder that it’s been 2 months since I last purchased guitar strings, and to come in for a good deal on something related.

I have to say I was woefully unprepared to be at Inspire. We booked our tickets just a couple of days in advance so we did not have any time to really prepare. We were there mainly for the ISV Development Center program. We will definitely go to next year’s event in Las Vegas though, and I will try to pay more attention, and to be more elaborate when I write about it.

CRS is an ISV Development Center

After months of intense scrutiny by Microsoft, and after having kept this quiet for a while once we knew that we were going to be accepted, we’ve finally come to the announcement part at the Microsoft Inspire conference that was held this week in Washington DC. I am very proud to say that we are one of only a handful of companies that have Microsoft’s trust to be a partner to their ISV partner channel.

My company, Cloud Ready Software, is one of only 7 companies globally to be selected in the initial group of ISV Development Centers, of which only 4 have a real competency in Dynamics NAV and Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations Business Edition.

The program was founded by Microsoft to be a buffer for getting the ISV partner channel’s IP into the cloud. There is only a small number of companies worldwide in the Dynamics 365 area that really focus on building products for the cloud. Cloud Ready Software had been helping partners develop their products for the cloud for years, and we have held countless workshops to teach the partner channel about the latest technologies. It seemed like a great fit for us to apply for the program, and we are very excited about the prospect of making this our niche.

Essentially, our job is to help ISV partners in any way we can to get their IP into the cloud. We can do workshops and training for their staff, but we can also participate in projects directly. We can be a way to extend bandwidth in analysis, design, or development efforts, and we can also help with project management and/or guidance in any capacity necessary.

As an ISV Development Center, we have access to the latest technologies, and we are actively involved in developing and promoting those technologies into the partner channel. We can even help be part of a proof of concept to prove the viability of new technologies in cutting edge projects.

It is important to note that we are the partner’s partner. We are not after end users, in fact one of the stipulations of being in the IAV Development Center program is that we are not allowed to work directly with the end user without prior authorization by the partner. Should an end user company contact us, we are obligated to get in touch with their partner of record, to make sure that there is no conflict of interest.